Hello,
I have just joined this List to ask about one family in the Boston, MA, area during the
early 1900's. But, I checked the archives of the Boards and see it is not a
surname which too many people research. But, I was surprised to check the archives of
this List and see only .2. postings.
The beginning of the story is that my step-sons have asked me to find out the step-father
they had around 1980. He was George A. CATALDO, and he was in their lives for several
years while they were growing up. But, he only married their mother one year before his
untimely death. It seems that each of my step-sons has a slightly different memory of
George's last years. One says he had a "military funeral" in 1984,
another says he didn't. One says he was decorated while serving in both WW II and
the Korean War, another says he only fought in Korea. They do agree that George had
been married before and had an adult daughter, and his "EX" was present at the
funeral.
I've been doing a little, on-line investigating for 2 weeks, as I have time, and I
have found out tidbits of different information about George. Most importantly there
seems to have been 2 George A. CATALDO's born in Boston within days of each other in
April 1926. I had to contact the cemetery to find out which one was the one we were
looking for. He was born April 24. His death occurred in Sept. 1984, and I have not
yet found out the exact date. I was hoping the "Chelsea, MA, City Clerk" would
look up that information for me, and that office has not responded to my e-mail. I
believe George lived in the "Veterans Home in Chelsea" for at least a year, and
then died there.
I e-mailed the Veterans Office in Chelsea and found out only a relative can obtain
"military records" on someone. (And the Cemetery office does not have
military information on their burial records.)
I also found out that there was another George A. CATALDO born 10 years before near
Boston. And, this one, and the other one from 1926 both lived long lives.
I e-mailed the long-time Cataldo Ambulance Co. in Somerville, MA, and they don't
think that our George was related to their family. I believe 6 to 8 CATALDO families
arrived from Italy around or just before 1900. Possibly they weren't directly
related.
I don't know how many people belong to this List, so I might be just offering this
information as an FYI.
Betty (near Lowell, MA)
(on Lists for 10 yrs.; now an Admin for 9 Lists)